Electrical coupling.



W. GADKE.

ELECTRICAL COUPLING.

APPLICATlON FILED SEPT. 2, 1915.

I BRET/69344195. PatentedAug. 20,1913,

v 26 /5 A9 /4 27 v WILLIAM GADKE, or PHILAD LPHIA; PENNsYLvANIA.

ELECTRICAL COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 20, 1918.

. Application filed September 2, 1915. Serial No. 48,677.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat -I', citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Electrical- Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

novel means for electrically connecting a conductor such as an lnsulated w1re,-to a terminal; the invention more particularly contemplating a device for connecting the.

terminals of a timer for an internal combustion engine, with the several cables leading therefrom to the spark coil and spark plugs.

It is also desiredto provide a timer with a connection for detachably holding a cable to a terminal, the parts being so arranged that while they may be' quickly assembled or separated, their accidental separationshall be rendered unlikely.

These objects and other advantageous ends I secure as hereinafter set forth, reference being-had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section on an en larged scale illustrating the detail construe-- t1on of a connecting device constructed according to my invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are elevations at rlght angles to each other showing my connectlng device as applied to an insulated conductor;

Fig. 4 is a development of the contact cap shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and

Fig-5 is a modified form of the terminal 3 post and coupling sleeve associated therewith.

In order to connect the various conductor cables of an ignition or other current distributing system to terminals and at the same time effectually cover and insulate the joints, I provide for each of them a hollow cylinder 18 of insulating material closed at one end and having in its side adjacent said end an opening formed to receive and closely fit a terminal 10 in the form of a metallic post having an annular shouldered depression forming a neck 13 adjacent its head 14. The outer end of this opening is preferably counter-sunk so that it closely fits the convex top of an insulating bushing 16 in which the terminal is mounted. The cable or conductor WILLIAM GADKE, a

One object of my invention is to provide end of the cylindrical body.

through its side openings.

cylinder 18, with its more or less 20 to be attached to the terminal consists of a stranded conductor 19 surrounded by a body of insulating material, and in order to insure good electrical contact between this conductor and the metal of the terminal I provide a second terminal in the form of a cap of sheet metal, usuall brass or copper, which when developed pre erably has the form shown in Fig; 4:. Said metal cap 21 is shown as made up of a substantially rectangular body from one of whose long sides projects a long tongue 22 and a short tongue 23, and of these, the latter has a-perforation 24 adjacent, its outer endf In order to utilize this strip it is rolled into approximately cylindrical form as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with its long tongue 22 bent inwardly toward its axis and then substantially at right angles so as to extend outwardly.

The body adjacent the long tongue 22 is provided with a pressed-out pro ection 25 and in applying it to the end of the conductor, it is slipped over the insulation'on the end of the same with the stranded conductor 19 passed through the opening 24' I in the short tongue 23, after said tongue has been bent at right angles over the open is then wrapped around the long tongue 22 Said conductor adjacent the sharp bend thereof so that it forms a small compact coil in line. with the end of the rolled up body portion within the lines of the sides thereof. The projectingportion or lug 25' extends outwardly from the lower end of the bodyand is designed to enter and coact with .the walls of an annular groove 26 formed adjacent one end of a metal sleeve 27 frictionally held, within the insulating cover 18, which sleeve as shown in Fig. 1, has openings in line with each other adjacent its inner end for the reception of the terminal 10.

With the above described arrangement of parts, the insulating cover 18 is applied to the terminal 10 which extends into it Thereafter the secondary terminal formed by the rolled up metal piece 21 is applied to the end of a cable as shown in Figs. 2 and 8, and is inserted within the sleeve 27 of said cover springy tonguev 22 in position to present one of its fiat faces to the cylindrically recessed porthe terminal, since its edge engages the terially shorter,

shoulder between the head 14 and neck 13, and the parts are effectually locked together. At the same time the cover with the cable 20 is free to rotate on the terminal in a plane at right angles to the line thereof without disturbing its electrical engagement with said terminal and without the possibilityv of accidental disconnection or separation of the parts.

If for any purpose it should be desired to remove the cable from the terminal, it may be forcibly drawn out of the sleeve 27 in the cover 18, thus drawing the spring tongue 22 from engagement with the neck 13 and permittingthe cover to be raised ofi v of the same.

As shown in Fig. 5, the terminal post, instead of bein provided with a head and neck, may be t readed at its outer end as indicated at 30, in which case the metal sleeve 27 within the insulating sleeve 18 is threadedto fit said post. As before, there is a recess-and-projection connection between each spring sleeve 21 and the outer end of the sleeve 27 and said spring sleeve is of the construction shown in Figs. 2 and, 3 except that the spring tongue 22 is mahaving as before the end 19 of the conductor 20 wound around it. 7 It is noted that the insulating. material in which the terminal post is mounted has a convex form surrounding the same and is designed to fit into a correspondingly formed recess of the insulating sleeve soas to make a substantially weather-proof joint therewith.

I claim 1. The combination of a terminal having aneck of reduced diameter; an insulating sleeve fitting over said terminal; with a conductor removably fitting said sleeve and having a tongue of fiat spring material arranged with its flat surface engaging the curved surface of the neck of the terminal, said tongue coacting with the shoulder at. one end" of said neck to lock said parts together.

2. The combination of a terminal; a sleeve of insulating material; an insulated conductor; a metal sleeve yieldingly surrounding the insulation adjacent one end of the conductor and electrically connected to the a split metal having a projection; a

latter; said sleeve including a tongue extending into locking engagement with the terminal; anda projection-and-recess connection for separably retaining said metallic sleeve within the insulating sleeve.

3. The combination of a conductor; a body of insulation surrounding the same; sleeve yieldingly mounted adjacent the extremity of said insulation and having a projecting contact portion in electrical connection with the conductor; a sleeve; and a recess-and-projection connection between the split sleeve and the latter sleeve.

4:. The combination of a conductor; a split metal sleeve yieldingly mounted thereon and non-yielding metal sleeve formed to fit over the split sleeve and provided with an annular recess for the reception of the projection thereof; with an insulating sleeve inclosing and in intimate permanent contact with said second sleeve.

5. The combination of aterminal in the form of a post; an insulating sleeve; a metal sleeve mounted in said first sleeve, sai sleeves having side openings in line with each other for the reception of said terminal post; with a conductor removably fitting said metal sleeve and having locking engagement with the terminal post.

6. The combination of a fixed body of insulating material 'having'a convex portion; a terminal post extending therethrough; an insulating sleeve having a concave recess for the reception of the convex portion of said body of insulating material and provided with an opening for the terminal post; with means for temporarily locking the terminal post in said sleeve.

7. The combination of a fixed body of insulating material having a convex portion; a terminal post extending therethrough; an insulating sleeve having a concave recess for the reception of the convex portion of the fixed body and provided with an opening for the terminal post; with means for temporarily locking the terminal post in said sleeve, the same conslsting of a conductor removably fitting into the sleeve I and having a contact portion electrically enof a body of insuthe. reception of the convex portion of the body of insulatin material; with a conductor removably fitting the sleeve and having a separable projection-and-recess 'con- 5 nection therewith.

10. The combination of a conductor; a body of insulating material thereon; a longitudinally split contractile metal sleeve PI'OJGCtiOIlS, the other mounted on said body and having at least two projections; with a second sleeve formed 10 to receive the split sleeve and provided with a recess for the reception of one of said projection being in electrical engagement With the conductor.

'. WiLLIAM GADKE. 

